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Very interesting points! Thank you for that counter :) And yes, Taleb has shown to be a very confident writer...

I just so happen to be currently reading about this in The Black Swan by Nassim Taleb. He says:

"From predator-prey models (the so-called Lotka-Volterra type of population dynamics), I knew that populations experience [potentially high] variability, hence predators will necessarily go through periods of feast and famine. That's us, humans--we had to have been designed to experience extreme hunger and extreme abundance.

... So where on earth does this idea of "steady" exercise come from? Nobody in the Pleistocene jogged for forty-two minutes three days a week, lifted weights every Teusday and Friday, etc... Not hunters. We swung between extremes: we sprinted when chased or when chasing (once in a while in an extremely exerting way), and walked about aimlessly the rest of the time."

That's what he thinks anyway. We are complex, yo.

Something that I've been learning lately is that balance is vital to survival.

I'm a student, and I had a burnout a couple months ago. Thankfully, I was able to learn important things about myself, namely certain limits of mine (and I was studying limits at the time for calc class). I was far behind and yet I was struggling everyday to grasp the material. I ended up having to drop two out of three classes and managed to save the one I didn't drop.

I had been ignoring other parts of my life, like social interaction, and with my thoughts always running I eventually developed delusions(I have mental disabilities also). Since then I've put away social media and have been making time to go outside and around people to try to make connections, as well as yard work (can be therapeutic).

Now I see imbalances in my life more clearly than before. So, like a problem solver, I'll see what I can do about it. :)

I think there is absolutely a place and time for writing the way you talk and that the same goes for writing formally.

The discussion of when and where for either case is a topic in and of itself.

We plebs are fully aware that the odds are stacked against us. I don't expect it to change soon, if ever. And if anything, it just makes us harder than our marshmallow-like upper-class counterparts.

Yeah, I want to be successful and make "fuck you" money; but that's not the only reason I study hard.

Pleb power.

I'm in the same boat, It's really been a boon for self-improvement. There is a lot of value in being your own harshest critic.

I bought the pro version a couple months ago and I'm sure it's already paid for itself.

In the past I couldn't even have games installed on my computer for fear of getting sucked in for hours on end. Now I don't have to worry, I can be productive and still enjoy games at the end of the day.

Highly recommended for people that work from their personal computers.

I'm just another chronic procrastinator and from what I've experienced there is no single "cure". Here's where I stand in trying to solve my own procrastination problems:

- Removed myself from things that enable procrastination; I installed software (Coldturkey) that blocks websites and programs on my computer(games), and I won't be able to change the configuration of Coldturkey for another couple weeks.

- I have a calendar next to my work area, I get a red X on days that I do a reasonable amount of work; I got this from Jerry Seinfeld's method of getting better at something, "Don't break the chain!" of red X's.

- I often ask myself "what sort of person do you want to be? Do you want to be remembered as someone that did a half-assed job most of the time? Or do you want to be remembered as someone that killed it any chance he got?"; that sometimes gives me a little push to get stuff done.

- I am always behind in my mind.

- I've been working on making a habit of following through to the end anything that I am tasked with; I have unfinished stuff but there is less than there used to be.

This is just what I've come up with for myself. It's just come down to not trusting myself, so I try to make it so I don't have to.

I'm a vet with a security clearance. When I heard about the breach at OPM I obviously wasn't happy but figured there was not much to do about it.

I just tell myself that there's not much point in worrying about something you have little to no control over. I know for a fact that my shit is out there now, and I hope I don't get screwed over, but what is there even to do?

What-the-fuck-ever.

Edit: for those affected, here's something: https://www.opm.gov/news/releases/2015/09/opm-dod-announce-i...

I work on an Ubuntu vm, the only reason I use Windows, really, is for games and likely just out of habit.

I don't think it will be much longer until I actually make the switch.

I recently switched from Bitdefender to AVG, and like you just uninstalled AVG.

I'm not sure where to go from here.

This. At the end of the day it's up to you to find/make the time to balance your life out. I've been learning a lot lately about balance, it's more important than I used to think.

FIND BALANCE!

That is common in Japan among jobs from office workers to mechanics.

I was stationed there for some years and when we were in port the Japanese workers on the base would all line up outside their offices, sometimes turn on a little workout music, and one or two would lead in stretching and movement exercises.

I'm sure they saw all the sailors looking and some laughing, but I think the joke was on us, ha!

I'm in the same boat man. We just need a little tamper-proof dispenser that only allows us a certain amount for a given period of time.

Like you, I'm better off without it. But I do miss it.

I am one of those college students and actually I have been smoking way too much. I just recently stopped and now I sleep much better, getting up in the morning is way easier, I just have more energy.

It's hard for me to have access to it and not smoke it, both my parents were addicts so I'm supposedly predisposed to addictive behavior. I would smoke all day, every day, even when I didn't feel like it.

I'm a little turned off by it now since I found it was having negative effects on my life, but I'm sure that is because I was simply smoking way too much.

Anyways, don't smoke too much.

Good for him, chase your dreams.

Well, good to know. I guess I'm not familiar with how things can be done. Thanks for the heads up.

I feel as though both parties could have handled that better. Contacting a company about a security vulnerability via a tweet, there must be a better way about that. And the company's response seemed pretty disproportionate to me.

Maybe someone will learn something from this, or maybe not.

All this just makes me sick and angry. I wonder if congress will ever represent the people.

When I'm wrestling with a problem I'll sometimes go outside and pace back and forth in my yard. Pacing has been a habit of mine since I was a kid, I remember doing it one time my mom told me "stop pacing, you're making me nervous."

As an adult I love walking, I feel that it's when I can think the clearest. And as an adult I still pace, especially at the gym when I'm resting before my next set.

Now I'm starting to wonder about myself. Anyways, go on walks!

Never give up.

I have a poster on the wall behind my monitors of the 5th Solvay Congress in Brussels. It has many of the greats including Planck, Curie, Lorentz, Einstein, Schrodinger, just to name a few. There are times when, for example, I've been working on a problem or trying to understand a concept and want to walk away; I will look up at the poster and think about how those people spent their entire lives on problems, they were the type that didn't give up.

Things don't happen all at once, sometimes you have to be more patient than you'd like. But I believe it's those people that never give up that make the most impact.

Be realistic with yourself but aim high; work hard and smart and you have a better chance than many to get what you want.

When I was in high school I was always fascinated by the stories I'd hear about hackers, I was just a lowly gamer back then. I always told myself something along the lines of "these people have been doing this since they were kids, it's too late for me, I could never be good at that stuff."

A little over a decade later after finishing my time in the military I made a conscious decision to study and get into information security. I guess I was more confident by then. I've only been at it a few years, learning fundamentals, coding, actually not a ton of security stuff yet since that in itself is an advanced topic and I thought if I was going to aim for infosec I wanted get there the right way.

Now I'm working a contract job for a local guy, making him tools to automate his business and have been pestering a security company about a job as well (for the past few years in fact). My most recent correspondence with the technical lead at the security company yielded me a "maybe later this year".

I know I'm far behind many of my peers in knowledge but I've just taken that simply as more reason to work harder at it than them. I'm starting to see results I honestly never thought I would, and I am starting to get the impression that I can be good at this.

I was lucky enough to be born in a country where the biggest obstacle to my success is myself. Keep that in mind when you're doubting yourself.

Hearing this from someone like yourself brings me great joy...

In 2011 after my time in the military was through I made a decision to get into infosec. I didn't know how to code, had never been to college, and only had IT knowledge from being a typical computer geek in high school. That same year I found out there was security firm in my relatively small hometown, so I emailed them.

Since then I've been reading books, coding, and emailing that firm every 5 months or so basically asking for work. To hear that self-motivation, passion, and drive are big hiring factors to you makes all this studying I've done over the past few years worth more to me than before I read your post.

I finally got a "maybe later this year" from the technical lead, I'm crossing my fingers.

Thank you.

Thank you for the link, I think this will help a good deal.

I've been interested in trying LSD since my friend offered but am hesitant because I don't know how it will interact with my medication (SSRIs).

On a side note, I do like to smoke weed while I'm studying/coding. Things that were not so easily apparent to me before being high often become a given and understanding concepts comes more naturally. It's easier for me to picture in my head how data is being manipulated and where it's going in memory. My skills are only at an intermediate level so this is really helpful when I'm trying to learn more advanced stuff.

I'm reading this article and Sratfor says:

"It is worth briefly explaining why Stratfor fixates on navigable rivers as opposed to coastlines. First, navigable rivers by definition service twice the land area of a coastline (rivers have two banks, coasts only one). Second, rivers are not subject to tidal forces, greatly easing the construction and maintenance of supporting infrastructure. Third, storm surges often accompany oceanic storms, which force the evacuation of oceanic ports. None of this eliminates the usefulness of coastal ports, but in terms of the capacity to generate capital, coastal regions are a poor second compared to lands with navigable rivers."

This is just after explaining all the economic benefits to a river system like that of the Mississippi. I am just wondering now about the time after which the ice caps have receded and the river system in question occupies more land; would it be wrong to think that this could possibly increase its potential economic output?

I just feel sick when I think of how helpless I am as a citizen while I watch my government's officials get away with shit like this. Yeah, I can sign petitions, vote, contact my congressman, but I always have the feeling of someone that's just watching from the outside.

My hope is that those people that we don't see or hear about that work around injustices like these are doing what they can to keep some sort of balance. I try to convince myself sometimes that these people that love their country and want to do good are trying to use what power they have to make things right. I know for a fact that there are amazing people working in government and I hope the good stuff these people do just doesn't get much attention.

I love my country, I served, I consider myself a patriot, but I worry about my children and their children. I don't expect much, if anything, to come of this and the fact that that feeling is common for me as an American puts knots in my stomach.

You are your own worst enemy.

[edit] After reading my post again it seems pretty scatter-brained, I guess that's appropriate in some way.

Back in 2011 I decided that I would teach myself all this great computer science stuff and work in information security. Apart from the fact that security in itself is an advanced topic, I had given myself a very long-term goal without realizing it.

It wasn't until a few months of research that I realized how truly enormous computer science as a topic really was. The moment I realized this I remember sitting back in my chair and thinking "fuck". So, I started with fundamentals and went from there. Thus far I've learned enough to hold my own and have the confidence that I can make it in information security once I get there.

I can't tell you how many articles, blog posts, and comment threads I read about being productive. Books I've put on my list to read and am currently reading (about 4 right now) is virtually always growing. It wasn't until the last month or so that I realized a pattern in my behavior; I will focus intensely on one thing for a variable period of time and then lose interest in it.

A few tactics against myself that have proven useful:

- Blocks all websites that waste my time between the hours of 0800-2200.

- Uninstall all games and their respective clients (done this many times).

- Keep work/studies on screen/desk 24/7; the idea here is to have to stare at what you're supposed to be doing right now, as you do not do it.

I still procrastinate terribly and go around my own countermeasures on a regular basis, but I've improved nonetheless. Hang tough buddy, you're only fighting yourself so identify your weaknesses and exploit them.

From the Wartard post:

"but the Chinese did manage to sneak a diesel powered sub into the middle of a carrier group during USN exercises off Taiwan in 2006."

I was stationed in Japan when I was in the Navy and just missed this little event. Supposedly the sub surfaced directly in front of the Kittyhawk. Shortly thereafter, the Kittyhawk went into General Quarters.

Thank you for your insight. I'll keep to it and will find out their policy on continuing education.